Sell me on a new press. Shocker! Not a "getting into reloading" thread!

Levon12345

Levon12345

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So I was fortunate enough to have my dad pass on his rifles and reloading stuff to me while he was still on this great planet. So I learned the ins and outs from him and several family members using his kit without the startup costs. I mean, I ran into an ideal situation: hand-me-down press, recipes for his rifles, tips and tricks, all of it. It's made me a lifer reloader and has been really awesome to share this with him while he's still here. Now that my dad is looking into the black hole of boredom that is retirement, he's asked for that stuff back so he can get back into it and we can go blast paper and critters together. So I think I'm in the most rare situation to ever befall a reloader. I have an idea of what I'd like to get out of a press, and the whole world of presses to choose from. This is where the collective gets to chime in.

I've only run single stage presses. Apparently my family's favorite colour is green because every press I've dealt with has been RCBS. My dad did have a piggyback progressive attachment that I was about to fire up to reload my .45 ACP with but I haven't had a pile of brass big enough to warrant it yet. So I never used it. My shooting consists of batches of everything from .45 ACP, .357 mag, .308, 7.62x54 and 25-20 with 9mm likely to be added. By the time I start running a batch through, I'm usually going for 50 to 100 cases to reload but with the addition of the pistol calibres, it may jump. So do I drop the cash on a progressive? Split the difference on a turret press? Or just soldier on with the ultra reliable (and cheap) single stage?

There you go gun nutz, give me your opinion on presses. I'll be hunting for used presses at the Calgary gun show coming up in two weeks.
 
Go blue it goes well with the green or at least it has here.
I've had green for the past 40 years and blue for the past 20.
green for a few rounds here and there, blue for any volume.
 
I'm going to suggest the progressive that thinks it is also a turret/single stage. The Dillon 550. It can load rifle, it can load handgun, it can load in full progressive and if you pull out the station buttons on the shell plate so the cases can slip in and out of any of the positions it acts like a multi position turret press. But if you suddenly have only an hour to work on it and need around 300 to 350 rounds of handgun for an event the next day you can put the station retention buttons back in and progressively churn out that much ammo in an hour with time left over.

The only downside to it all is that you need a $45 caliber conversion kit for the shell plate to run each caliber.

If you simply never need to churn out 300+ rounds in an hour for any reason that comes to mind then you could do a lot worse than just a single stage. It's already known to you for making good rifle ammo. And once you get a system going you can turn out 150 to 180 rounds per hour of handgun ammo using just a dipper or perhaps a Lee die mounted powder measure during the flaring pass.
 
You did not mention how many rounds you need to load in a session.

I have some Dillon progressive presses and a turret press I use for smaller runs.

I don't like to see the progressive set up unless I will make at least 500 rounds. Sometimes I run several thousand of a single caliber, loading.

With a single stage, or the turret, I size/prime a bucket of brass. Then I mouth expand (if required) the bucket, then I drop powder and bullet seat the entire bucket.

A single stage is quite productive used in this way.
 
Ganderite said:
You did not mention how many rounds you need to load in a session.

I have some Dillon progressive presses and a turret press I use for smaller runs.

I don't like to see the progressive set up unless I will make at least 500 rounds. Sometimes I run several thousand of a single caliber, loading.

With a single stage, or the turret, I size/prime a bucket of brass. Then I mouth expand (if required) the bucket, then I drop powder and bullet seat the entire bucket.

A single stage is quite productive used in this way.
Click to expand...

See, I've yet to need that kind of production for one calibre. I'm all over the place with my shooting, from pistol, to long range hunting, to making plinking and hunting loads for my lever guns. With the cartridge conversion cost with the Dillon, I could buy a lot of components and get my jollies the slow way. I'm not going to buy a press for the 1500 rounds of .45 I'm going to shoot this year. I shoot more rifle than pistol so unless someone can really sell me on a progressive, I'm gonna start shopping the turret option. It sounds more in line with what I'm looking for.
 
Levon12345 said:
There you go gun nutz, give me your opinion on presses. I'll be hunting for used presses at the Calgary gun show coming up in two weeks.
Click to expand...
A Bonanza Co-Ax. And a Dillon XL650, complete with case feed. My original press was a Bair "C" press. That got replaced by an RCBS Rockchucker - changing dies was too slow when reloading for pistol, and that's when the move to the Co-Ax started.

I've been trying to wear out my Co-Ax since I bought it in 1974. A few tools that require a shellholder slot are a bit of a liability for the Co-Ax. But I've always found an easy way around that, and there are aftermarket parts that will also give you a shellholder slot. I load all my rifle ammo except 5.56 on the Co-Ax; all my development loading, rifle or pistol, is done on the Co-Ax. I shot competitive pistol for years loading with the Co-Ax before the XL650 came along. It was a bit painful, but as fast as you can change dies with the Co-Ax, it wasn't all that bad either.

The XL650 is a marvelous tool for churning out large amounts of quality pistol ammunition. Space enough for a powder checking station to pick up mistakes, separate seating and crimping, etc. I don't know how many rounds I have reloaded on the XL650, but it is like "a whole, whole lot". Worn out a few minor pieces, Dillon throws them in the mail almost immediately. Great company to deal with.

If I was forced to whittle down to only one press, it would be the Co-Ax. I'd really miss the XL650, but I could get along without it. Although, if the great majority of my shooting was handguns, "modern sporting rifles", etc., maybe I'd choose to keep the XL650 instead.

I have seen the occasional Co-Ax or XL650 at the Calgary gun show over the last few decades, but not many. I think you're probably going to have to look further than the Calgary gun show to have a reasonable chance of finding either of these presses.
 
RED co-ax for precision, RED Hdy LNL for everything else.

Cost benefit of the CO-AX is no need for calib conv kit, plates, shell holder...; for low volume caliber just buy the die. 50 buck Lee dies kit, that's it.
 
burnaby said:
RED co-ax for precision, RED Hdy LNL for everything else.

Cost benefit of the CO-AX is no need for calib conv kit, plates, shell holder...; for low volume caliber just buy the die. 50 buck Lee dies kit, that's it.
Click to expand...

That's won of the best arguments for the CO-AX plus very accurate..
 
What a shame having to give back all that green equipment. Now you will have to replace it in one shot with new stuff.

Did you see this thread?

h ttp://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php/1375998-RCBS-Rockchucker-Supreme-Master-Reloading-Kit-Sale
 
Forgot to mention I've still got my RCBS and Lee dies so taking standard dies is essential. Also, I've got my scale and other bits and bobs I upgraded. So, other than lusting after an automatic charge dispenser, I'm only in need of a press.
 
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If you are only shooting 1500 rounds a year then you have no need for a progressive press.
I would go with the Forster Co-Ax without a doubt for a single stage.
A turret press may be another option if you want to increase your volume a little.
 
I love my Dillon 550 & 650XL, but I still regularly use my RCBS RockChucker and Redding T-7 turret press. From what you describe, I think the most practical and cost effective option to meet your reloading needs is a quality turret press. You're not shooting enough to justify a Dillon progressive press, but with the addition of more pistol calibers, the single stage RC can get tiresome. All the extra caliber conversions and other extras required will easily put you over $1K with the Canadian dollar in the toilet if you went with the Dillon. The Hornady LnL is getting up there as well.

As much as I love RCBS, the Redding T-7 turret press would be my first and only choice for a turret. After that, I'd still feel ill-equipped if I didn't have a quality single stage on my bench just in case I wanted to do some case forming or perhaps reload one of the big boomers in the future. I'd keep my eye out for a good used RockChucker or Redding Big Boss.
 
The Dillon 550 is my recommendation. It will work well for everything you want to load and is quick and easy to convert between calibres. I don't think you can go too far wrong erring on the side of extra capacity, especially if you will be loading any sort of pistol cartridges.
 
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